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CALGARY -- Mikael Backlund scored twice, including the winner, as the Calgary Flames edged the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. Backlund took the puck to the net and sent a pass to Sean Monahan, whos shot was stopped by Wild netminder Darcy Kuemper. The puck, however, bounced into the air and Backlund batted it down and past Kuemper at 2:25 of extra time. Its Calgarys fifth straight victory and also completes a perfect 5-0-0 homestand. The last time the Flames swept a homestand of that length was in 1997 - Jarome Iginlas rookie season. TJ Galiardi, with his first goal in 38 games, and Dennis Wideman also scored for Calgary (21-27-7), which last won five games in a row in March 2012. Mark Giordano had two assists to extend his career-high point streak to nine games, which includes four goals and six assists. Matt Cooke, Dany Heatley and Keith Ballard scored for Minnesota (29-21-7). Trailing 3-1 halfway through the third period, the Wild drew to within one on Dany Heatleys power-play goal at 10:31. Ballard then silenced the Scotiabank Saddledome sell-out crowd of 19,289 with the tying goal at 15:55. On a Minnesota rush, Ballard got caught up with Wideman as he drove the net. With Wideman tangled up with goaltender Reto Berra, Ballard backed away just in time to one-time a centring pass from Kyle Brodziak into the top corner. It was back on Oct. 4 in the Flames second game of the season in Columbus when Galiardi, acquired in an off-season trade with San Jose, scored his first goal as a Flame. Little did the Calgary native know at the time it would take nearly four months for him to score again. However, he did make it a beauty when he finally ended the drought at 12:36 of the first period to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. After getting a pass from Kevin Westgarth, Galiardi spun and quickly sent a backhand into the top corner. Immediately, the 25-year-old looked skywards in a show of both relief and shock that he finally scored. That lead would hold up until 14:03 of the second period when Cooke tied it for the Wild while shorthanded. Cooke burst down the left wing and from just inside the top of the face-off circle blasted a slapshot over the shoulder of Berra. Berra did not start the game for the Flames. He entered with 2:28 left in the first period when Karri Ramo left with a lower-body injury. The Flames regained the lead with 1:36 left in the second on a nifty deflection from Wideman. Shortly after failing to score on a power play, Chris Butler fired a shot from the blue-line that Wideman redirected thigh-high from the high slot and past Kuemper. Calgary surged in front 3-1 one minute into the third period when Backlund finished off a three-on-one for the Flames. The shorthanded goal was the third of the season for Backlund, moving him into a tie for second in the NHL behind Bostons Brad Marchand. While most of the season has seen Calgary equally divide up the starts between Ramo and Berra, Ramo (11-10-4) had been the better of the two in recent weeks and had been getting the majority of the playing time with Saturday being his sixth start in the last seven contests. Berra had 14 saves to improve to 7-14-2. He has yet to win in regulation, with four shootout victories and Saturday being his third overtime win. Kuemper made his 10th straight start in net for the Wild. He had 28 saves to fall to 6-4-1. Notes: The Flames final three games before the Olympic break will be on the road beginning in Montreal on Tuesday... Minnesota plays twice at home before its break begins... The Flames have eight shorthanded goals, which is second in the NHL behind Carolina (9)... Flames D Kris Russell (upper body) did not play. Taking his spot was Chris Breen, who played for the first time since being recalled from Abbotsford (AHL) on Jan. 26. Mike Smith Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Christian Fischer Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. http://www.hockeycoyotesonlineshop.com/Authentic-M...er-Jers ey/ . JOHNS, N. Brad Richardson Coyotes Jersey . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Joe Vitale Coyotes Jersey . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse.TORONTO - 12 months ago DeMar DeRozan carried the weight of an expiring contract into training camp as he prepped for his fourth NBA season with the Raptors. In many ways he was a different person with different responsibilities, different motivations. He had a lot to prove but he wasnt fully ready to prove it, not like he is now. He was still a young man. A year later, DeRozan finds himself in a similar setting - looking to end the Raptors playoff drought and reach the postseason for the first time in his professional career - but as training camp winds down and the regular season approaches, he appears to be a noticeably changed man. Now, hes a young adult. Fresh off the most eventful year of his life, the 24-year-old says he feels a lot older than his age suggests. The day after opening night will mark the one-year anniversary since DeRozan signed a $38 million extension keeping him in Toronto through the 2016-17 season. Since inking his new contact he put up career numbers playing in all 82 games last year, he participated in Team USAs minicamp this summer and more personally, he became a father. As he notes, he has grown up off the court just as much as he has on it. "I see a lot of film and a lot of pictures from my rookie year, my second year, my third year," DeRozan said in an interview with TSN.ca after a weekend practice in the Raptors gym. "You [can] just see how much Ive grown personality-wise [and] as a basketball player, especially now as a father, having a daughter and having [those] responsibilities to take care of. So its definitely [been] a major growth year." On May 12, DeRozan and his fiancee, Kiara, became first-time parents to daughter Diar; a day that forever changed his life, a day thats largely responsible for his transformation. "I cant even tell you in words, to explain it," he said, struggling to articulate how he felt in that moment. "It just put life all together for me and helped me understand the important things in life. Its definitely big, it means the world to me and theres not a word I can find to sum up the feeling." "It changes you most definitely for the better, it helps you become more of a man." Entering his fifth season, DeRozans growth has not gone unnoticed in training camp. As his coach and teammates have pointed out, that sense of responsibility and maturity has transcended his personal life and carried over on the basketball court where he seems poised to take his game to the next level. "Hes growing up," Rudy Gay has noticed of DeRozan. "Hes a father now, he has a family he has to provide for. Its the little things, not little things to him, but those little things on the outside make him seem more grown up, and he is. Hes spending more time in the gym, other than being with his kid. Hes really hungry and everybody around here sees it." "DeMar has grown," coach Dwane Casey echoed. "Hes grown as a person, as a young man, as an NBA player. Hes doing things now just instinctively where my first year, two years ago it was more teaching and talking to him about those situations where now theyre natural. So thats a sign of growth, thats a sign of maturity and he has really, really grown as a basketball player and most of all as a young man, which is great to see." Praised repeatedly throughout his time in Toronto for his unrelenting work ethic, DeRozan continued to refine his game this summer. When he wasnt changing diapers you could find him in the gym hoisting three-pointers - he would shoot until he made at least 300 per session - or perfecting an array of post moves he has displayed to perfection in the preseason. The fruits of his labour, for now, have resulted in a number of dominant moments during the exhibition season. Building off of last years improvement in the post, DeRozan has impressed with his footwork and creativity around the basket, getting to the rim and to the line with ease. He has handled the ball witth confidence, passed out of double teams and shown improvement on defence.dddddddddddd "Its beautiful because he is such a wonderful young man," Casey said of DeRozans evolution on the court. "Hes paid his dues, hes paid the price, hes put [in] his time in the gym. Hes done it himself. Every phase of the game hes worked on in the summer." To take the next step as an NBA player, DeRozan knows he has to put everything hes worked on together, staying consistent and efficient on both ends. While many professional athletes are motivated by money and the prospect of making more of it - something he already has covered, at least for the next four seasons - DeRozan is fuelled by his appetite to win and the fact that through four NBA seasons, he hasnt tasted much success. "[Making the playoffs] would completely mean everything," said DeRozan, now the longest tenured Raptors player (he and Amir Johnson are both entering their fifth year with the team). "Thats my biggest goal, just get us back there and get us back to winning and just get that joyful feeling again from the fans." Losing hasnt been easy on DeRozan, a born competitor, and hes done a lot of it since the Raptors selected him out of USC with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft. The team narrowly missed the postseason in DeRozans rookie season, going 40-42 before Chris Bosh bolted to Miami. Over the next three years Toronto had a combined record of 79-151. It hasnt been easy but its been a learning experience for DeRozan, an experience thats allowed him to play through mistakes and another contributing factor to the growth process. "When you go through rough times it helps you grow that much more and understand what you have to do to get better and help your team get better," he reflected. "Going through four tough years really helped me grow in every aspect. [Im] more of a leader, more of a man, more of an athlete." Leadership has been the biggest adjustment for DeRozan. A self-proclaimed recluse, he is reserved and mild mannered as a person but, with time, is becoming a more vocal player. "Hes still young," Gay pointed out. "I dont think people realize how young he is. You cant really expect him to know all the things there is. Hes played a lot of basketball but its a different kind of feel when youre playing winning basketball, and [its] not his fault at all, but now we have a team that can win and I think that everybody thats here that has won hes listening to and hes figuring out how to do it himself." "Everybody goes through it, Ive been through it so I can relate to him a lot," Gay continued, having also missed the playoffs in his first four seasons before reaching the postseason with Memphis in his fifth year. "Yeah, I can see hes hungry, hes talked about it a lot during the summer with me and I think we all are." DeRozan has experienced more in the last 12 months than most do in a single year. Hes come a long way since being drafted as a 19-year-old and playing his first game a couple months after his 20th birthday. Hes gone through things, both good and bad, that have forced him to mature faster than most people his age. Sometimes its easy to forget that hes only and just barely-turned 24. "Thats the thing about the NBA, you want players to dominate right now but when guys are young coming into the league its virtually [impossible]," Casey said. "I havent seen it happen yet and Ive been in [the league] now 21, 22 years. Any time a player comes in there is a growth process and you want it to happen yesterday but it takes time." "DeMar is right on schedule. Its time for him to do that, to grow and to be the player he was drafted to be. In some players the light doesnt come on and youll know that after the four-year period, or five-year period, but with him the light is on and theres someone in the house and hes ready to roll. Nows the time for him." 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